Its eight Oscars, (then) scorching love scenes between Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr and raw, shocking portrayal of the oppression and torments of American Army life at the time of Pearl Harbor, made this film a sure box-office hit.
It also remade Frank Sinatra's career when he won one of the Oscars as the ill-fated Private Maggio. Donna Reed (another Oscar-winner), Montgomery Clift, Ernest Borgnine (memorable as the sadistic sergeant who goes gunning for Maggio), Claude Akins, Mickey Shaughnessy and Jack Warden all snapped up early career chances.